The Queen
by Slices
Summary: The story of how Queen Serenity and the silver millennium came to be.
1. Prologue

This is a story that came to me when I was reading two Sailor Moon fanfics called Sailor Moon H: Order of the phoenix by TheElephantInThePrideParade and Tuxedo Harry by Benneducci, which I recommend to any Sailor Moon and Harry Potter fans out there. I decided to post it because the new season of Sailor Moon Crystal (season 3) will be starting soon!

The premise here is how Queen Serenity founded the Silver Millennium, and the secret behind the princess' birth.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon

I hope you enjoy reading it!

* * *

'Who am I? Where did I come from?' those were the first questions that came to me as I opened my eyes for the first time. The first thing I saw was breathtakingly beautiful full moon shining in the sky, and that was when I remembered.

My name is Selene, Goddess of the Moon, and the one who poets sung praises since the dawn of time; my light always shown in the darkness of the night, guiding mortals when the sun no longer could.

For a time I was content, merely shining and revealing the secrets hidden in the night; however, one day, I heard a sweet voice; it wasn't like any of the poets, philosophers, priests, or even the priestesses that sung me praises before, this one was a young shepherd, his voice was slightly low, yet it held such gentleness, that I had to know who that young man was. His voice had charmed me, I wanted to hear it more, it was sweeter to me than ambrosia, and more addicting than the sweetest drug, I wanted to hear this man sing to me for all eternity, for his voice was one I could not let go of.

"Mortal," I said to him from my place in the heavens "Your goddess requires your name."

When he looked up to the sky, his face brought me awe, features that would put Adonis to shame, symmetrical as if sculpted to represent the perfect man for Aphrodite. "My goddess, I am but a humble shepherd, my name is not worthy of your ears," he said.

"Speak it young shepherd, you who guides livestock, like the moon guides mortals in the night."

"It is Endymion my lady," he answered.

"Your song has pleased me Endymion; tell me what reward would you like me to give you?" I asked him.

"My only wish, your grace, is to, but once, see the face of the goddess of the moon, the fairest of them all."

His words touched me, it was the first time that a man spoke such words to me, asking to see my face, and not only bask in my light. 'Endymion is humble,' I thought, 'here was a man worthy of me.' While many men wished to gain glory, power, and riches, this one here only wanted to see me; it was then that I decided, I would give this man what he wanted, then I would take him with me, and have him beside me forever and until the end of time.

"Very well, Endymion, I shall grant you this wish."

And so I left the moon and descended to the earth, coming in front of him, smiling gently like the moonlight.

"You are more beautiful than I could have ever imagined," he said, his face almost shining. I could not help myself, for here was the man more beautiful than Adonis, and his eyes were only on me; and like any girl in love for the first time, who knew nothing of shame nor tradition, I gave myself to him completely.

When our lips met for the first time, it was like a fire had been lit inside of me, I had lost control, for I was in bliss, and my instincts took control. Some say that when your first kiss would be bitter sweet, however to me it was sweeter than honey, it was as if I had not lived before, and just now I was starting to, like I had been breathing underwater, and only now I had raised my head and took my first real breath. And from there, things became more heated. Endymion's tunic was on the ground and mine was not too far away; my lips moved like fire on his sun-kissed skin, and my hands explored what my eyes could not, and I was not alone lost in that ecstasy; his hands traveled on my back, caressing me gently, and once I had finished tasting every bit of his skin, he took control and did the same to me. His mouth teased my skin, drove me mad with desire, and made me want for nothing more than him, and once he was done returning the favor, he looked into my eyes and our embrace truly began.

We stayed together on that isolated hill loving each other until the sun came up, and then we went to sleep.

* * *

And that was how I woke up that first night for the first few seconds of it forgetting who I was. However, once I recalled everything, I looked for my mortal lover, hoping to grant him eternity by my side, so that we may remain together on the serene moon until the end of days.

Unfortunately for me, it was not to be. For when I woke up, I was alone. Endymion was gone, and so where his cattle. The place where my tunic was supposed to be, in a bundle was as empty as my embrace, which was previously filled by my lover. It had taken me a while to understand what had happened; I went around naked and screaming for him, hoping it was a joke, him being a little playful with his lover. "No man could resist you, my goddess," he had said "no man would not be enthralled by your presence and beauty," he continued, and for my naiveté I believed him. I looked and searched all around that hill but my lover was not there.

He never was!

* * *

Though I was the goddess of the moon, going around naked before the mortals was not something I found acceptable. So I fashioned myself a dress from the moonlight itself, and once again went around looking for the man who pretended to be what he was not, the man who fooled me!

It was on the morning of the third day after my search that I was able to find the shepherd in a city one day's walk from the hill, this time walking together with a woman who was wearing my tunic.

I wanted to hate him, to tear him limb from limb, and leave him as a warning to all who come after him, to never attempt to cross this Goddess. But if one truly understood the moonlight, they understood that is was gentle, that it shined brightly over all, and that it could never truly harm anyone, and as the goddess of the moon, that applied to me too. So I did what probably no one else would do, and turned away leaving behind the man that made me feel love for the first time.

My tears flowed through my eyes as I left the city and the man I loved behind me, never looking back.

* * *

I don't know how long I was crying after I had gotten back to my domain, but I believe it could have been centuries. And after my tears had dried from my eyes, they all gathered together, joining together until they became a single crystal containing all of my powers, and it was at that second that I ceased to be Selene the Moon Goddess, and I became something else.

With the silver crystal I began my work, fashioning a palace on the moon overlooking the earth; once I was finished with what would later be dubbed 'Moon Castle', I headed to Venus where I created the second castle, then to Mercury where I built the third castle, then to Mars, then Jupiter, followed by Saturn, then Uranus, Neptune, and finally Pluto. Eight castles where constructed, one to govern each of these planets in addition to the castle on the moon. And from there I began recruiting human women to rule and protect those planets, with a small human population growing on each one of them. Each of the women chosen to rule I bestowed upon them the title of princess of that planet, and linked their seed with the seed of their planet. The earth however remained its own place, with me watching it from the moon.

As the years passed troubles ensued between the planets for many different reasons and the princesses of these different planets would come to me to mediate; while I was usually able to solve their problems with little violence, sometimes, blood would have already been spilt beforehand.

One time however, war broke out between all eight of the planets and princess turned against princess, wielding the incredible powers of their planets against each other; it was then that I intervened for the last time. After subduing all eight of the princesses, in addition to their armies, mostly due to the powers of the silver crystal, I decided to change this warped up world they had come to live in; I took control, and became Queen Serenity. The eight planets were no longer self-governed, true the eight princesses remained, however, how I ruled the solar system, and the princesses, representatives of their respective planets, became my advisors and my honor guard, bestowed with the title sailor warriors.

But as time moved forward, the universe expanded, new systems were discovered, and new threats emerged and were dealt with, time began to take a toll on me. I started caring less for the day to day business of the my kingdom, and I knew that the day where I had to leave would come soon, so I decided it was time to plan for what happens next.

* * *

When I decided that I would one day leave the kingdom, I realized that I could not possibly leave it in the hands of any of the princesses, which would in its turn strife and conflict. So the only remaining option for me was to give the kingdom to someone of my own flesh and blood, who I could trust to rule justly. The problem was, however, that I had no children nor relatives of my own, and I would never allow myself to be touched by a man ever again, so only one option remained opened to me; I would impregnate myself alone with the power of the silver crystal, a child born only from me, with little chance of her inheriting an unknown father's qualities; and after she would be born, I would teach her how to rule for fifty years; and when I become convinced that she is ready, I would abdicate and have her take the throne.

My wish, I found out, would not come to pass, for little princess Serenity, my beloved daughter, who meant to me more than anything in this entire universe would be taken from me following her sixteenth birthday, dying because she fell in love with a man that shared the same name with the man that put me on this path… Endymion.

* * *

"Luna, Artemis," I told the two sleeping cats "take care of my daughter, who I entrusted everything to."

Once I was certain that the cold sleep pods had arrived on earth, I set about uploading my memory and personality onto the mainframe, hoping that one day, my daughter would come back home and find my message to her.

Love never benefited my family, it had always caused us ruin, and now after everything, I wish my daughter would find the love that I never could, and to become the queen I know she can be one day.

With a final look back, I said farewell to the palace I called home, and the once moon goddess departed the solar system.

~Fin~

* * *

Ok so this story is a "oneshot" which could one day become more, but for now, it is the short story of the moon goddess Selene becoming the Queen we all know.

Hope you all enjoyed it!

F&R

Slices out


	2. Chapter 1

Encouraged by the fact that TheElephantInThePrideParade herself has reviewed my first chapter, and with the first episode of season 3 airing in a few days, I have decided to turn this story into a multi-chapter story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, in fact if I ever claim otherwise, Usagi would punish me in the name of the moon.

* * *

Chapter 1: I Swear, by the Moon…

The former moon goddess, once known as Selene, looked over the surface of the moon; while she had been crying because of the loss she felt deep in her heart, the moon had changed. Lost was the radiance the surface shined with in earlier years, and rather than the smooth surface, it was now filled with craters.

However the moon was not the only thing that changed, for Selene no longer heard the prayers of the humans. After her tears had dried out and the silver crystal was formed from their fusion, she noticed for the first time that the voices of the humans no longer reached her ears; at first, that worried her, 'Did the humans stop believing in me?' she thought, 'Did they replace me with a different god? Did I lose my powers?' All these questions and more she asked herself, however she could not come up with answers right away, so she decided to try out using her powers, for that was the simplest method to answer one of her many conundrums.

The Goddess decided to shine a ray of moonlight into space, taking in a deep breath, though there was not air to breath nor did she need it, Selene put her hand forward and willed the light to shine out, and what happened amazed her. A light twice as bright as she had use to shine appeared, and rather than feeling coming out of herself alone, she felt it also coming from the crystal in her hand. Ending her action, the eternal meditated into the crystal, noting the extent of its power; finding as powerful as she herself was, she decided to keep it with her at all times and protect it, least someone use it for their own personal gain. Knowing that her powers were intact, Selene decided that the next step was to head to earth and check her temples.

Once on earth, the goddess quickly disguised herself and proceeded to investigate her temples; discovering that the temples still stood and the faithful still went to pray and receive blessings from the priestesses. It was then that Selene finally understood, while she had retained her power, she had lost her divinity, meaning that while she still had control over the moon, and it was still her domain, she no longer could influence the minds of her believers, though her telepathy still remained. Losing her divinity also meant that her domain and those she protected were no longer passively protected from chaos and darkness, but were as vulnerable to it without her protection as any other; which explained why the moon had lost its light, it no longer had her divine aura.

Returning to the moon, Selene decided that she should at least create a place for her to live there, her seat of power; since she was no longer a goddess she was no longer omnipresent. Mortals often mistakenly thought that the gods had dwellings, that was incorrect; though the gods might have a certain place that held their divinity and a larger part of their essence gathered, they were nowhere and everywhere, thus needing no place to dwell. Selene was no longer a goddess, thus creating a 'seat of power' or a place for her to live became paramount.

The first thing Selene did once she arrived at the moon was to smoothen its surface. After the craters were no more, and the moon once again started resembling it old self, the former goddess, using the silver crystal and the gathered moon dust, from smoothening the moon's surface, and shaped the dust onto an elegant, white, glowing palace. Selene paid great attention to the smallest details in the carvings, bends, floors and ceilings, and when she was finished, the castle shone with the former glory of the moon.

With the enormous palace completed, Selene finally had the time to inspect her handiwork. Moon Castle slightly resembled the architecture used in the lands where she was called Anumati, or even in the parts she was known as the moon God Sin, (which she did as a prank, appearing before the moon worshipers there as male and naming herself sin; in her defense she thought they would forget about it in a century or two, apparently no such luck,) domed roofs decorated with the crescent moon on top of each one; pools of water so still they reflect the stars and earth above them as if mirrors, and between the pools an immaculately paved road of the purest white led to the castle steps, and on the sides of the roads lanterns shone with gentle light all along the path. White was the predominant color in the palace and it pleased Selene that no other colors were strongly present, there was some pink and light blue after all, but she had feared that with her divinity gone, she would no longer be the pure white moon.

Selene entered the throne room and sat on her throne, because no palace should exist without a throne in her opinion, and looked around her; perhaps for the first time in her indefinite life she finally felt at home.

The next step however proved slightly more difficult. Making the moon habitable for mortals required far more concentration than building the entire palace had been, add to that making the soil fertile enough to allow plant life to grow and you had a very delicate project. What some gods claim they could do with one word was not as simple as it sounded; true, with the power at her disposal she could perform the task with her will alone, however the task encompassed more than simply willing it, one needed to command the bacteria and viruses living in the soil to perform certain actions to perferm them a specific number of time, otherwise the atmosphere and soil would turn poisonous to anything that might attempt to live there.

* * *

After the completion of her palace and having decided that such a place required others other than herself to live in, Selene left the moon and descended upon the earth once more. Her goal this time was to hire servants to live and work in this castle, as a former goddess and with the help of the silver crystal, gold, gemstones and other types of precious materials were not an object she had to worry about, so hiring some servants to live and work in her palace was not a difficult thing to do. Those who would serve Selene had to be those who believed it their sacred duty to do so, and due to her previous experience with Endymion she could not trust any men; thus she chose maidens who worked as servants to nobility and warlords, and who were devout believers in the moon and its goddess.

Other than servants, she had come aiming for people to live and cultivate the moon, making it her new kingdom. The people she chose for that particular role were devout believers, who had drive, but had fallen hard on times, and now needed a chance to begin anew; some were free women and men, while others were enslaved. Purchasing those who were bound from their owners, she proceeded to set them free and cloth them properly, for non under her would suffer humiliation for that which they had no control over.

While purchasing supplies, seeds, and other such items from the merchants, the goddess noticed a man that looked extremely familiar. "Who is that man, kind sir?" she asked one of the merchants.

"You don't recognize King Endymion, fifth of his name, my fair lady?" the merchant asked surprised.

"I apologize dear sir, however I am not from around here, I had just stopped on my way back home from visiting some acquaintances in a nearby city, and decided to stop here to gather some supplies; you said he was fifth of his name, who was the first?"

"That does explain why you don't recognize him, however, surely you know of the story of Endymion who was so loved by the goddess Selene that she descended before him? And how after the goddess gifted him with a dress made of moonlight he was able to woo the king's daughter and become king himself?"

Selene hesitated for a few seconds, while she knew perfectly well that this man was not the man who betrayed her, she still felt her insides burn with anger; never the less, even with her divinity gone, Selene was still the gentle personification of the moon, and while her anger was strong, she was still able to reign it in. In hindsight, while Endymion tricked her in order to achieve kinghood, he could have ended up achieving godhood if she carried out her original plan.

"I know the story differently, and it did not have the part about him becoming king."

"Those are a lot of supplies you are buying; will you need porters to deliver them for you?"

"I wish you would prepare some wagons and have them prepared outside the city in a caravan so that my people and I can collect them and take them back home."

"As you wish my lady," the merchant was silent for a few seconds as if contemplating something and then asked "what might I call you my lady, so that my porters may know who to ask for."

Selene was about to state her name, however, having the name of the moon goddess and especially after just having talked about a story concerning her was more than a little suspicious, so she thought to give him a different name, and this one came to her naturally.

"You may call me Serenity," she said with a broad smile.

* * *

Years past and the kingdom on the moon grew quickly; the first thing about her people that Selene, who decided to change her name now to serenity, noticed was that they had become long lived, not immortal for they still were very much mortal, however rather than living like humans for less than a century, now they lived for at least a millennia. Another thing became apparent was that they were growing too fast, mainly due to the constant influx of immigrants from earth, and the moon was too small to support them all. So after fifteen hundred years of ruling over her kingdom, Queen Serenity left the moon looking for a way to expand her kingdom to other planets.

Since Serenity had no power over any celestial body in the solar system other than the moon, she could not do to the planets what she did to the moon, thus she decided to travel to other solar systems and galaxies in hopes of obtaining the power or perhaps even a clue on how to perform such a feat.

During her travels, she met the ruler of the planet Kinmoku who informed her that she could infuse the power of planets to specific individuals, thus granting them complete power over their respective planets; having done something similar to three of her advisors and closest friends, in addition, the requirements for inheritance of that specific power, and the number of people to hold it could be specified. However the ruler mentioned that only women were capable of having a planet infused with their essence.

Armed with her new knowledge, Serenity returned to her own solar system, and began constructing the first of the castles which were to serve as the base for the bonded individuals, Magellan Castle, which would belong to the one who will be called Sailor Venus. And with the construction of the castle of Venus underway, Serenity once again had hope for the future of her people.

* * *

A/N: Usually when I finish a chapter in one day, I worry myself that my passion for a certain story would burn itself out, but that hopefully will not be the case.

Anyway, here comes another chapter telling the story of the founding of the moon kingdom which will one day become the Silver Millennium.

Also I hope I answered here the question regarding why there are other sailors than the ones in the solar system.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hopefully I will see you soon when the next one comes out.

Slices out


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Of Love and Beauty

Disclaimer: I don't want to go into legal Battles with one of the most respected Mangaka, so I will say this: I don't own Sailor Moon or anything related to it, this is on Fanfiction for a reason.

* * *

Serenity looked over the newly erected castle orbiting Venus, Magellan, she would call it, and it would stand for Love and Beauty, or at least that's the feeling she got from the core of the planet itself; in the heart of the castle was the throne which would form the connection between whoever sat in it and the planet, and allowing them dominion over Venus like Serenity had over the moon, allowing for the creation of cities and fertile lands, atmosphere and for cities to be formed; however before that could happen, A princess to sit on the throne must be chosen.

While she could, theoretically, choose one of her priestesses, the former goddess knew, as if instinctively, that she had to choose someone who was yet to be touched by the magic of the moon; and thus, once again, she would travel to the earth, and hope to find someone to fill that crucial role for the future of her people.

The search took the Lunar Deity to the City of Memphis in the land known as Km.t, where it was rumored the women there were so beautiful, they put the stars to shame, and the fairest of them all was the priestess Hathor, whose beauty made her into somewhat of a goddess, that the pharaoh would leave his palace daily and attend the prayer rituals she performed to please the gods.

Indeed Hathor was everything one could hope for when it came to beauty, piety, and faith. She was a young woman who loved her people and was loved by them, so Serenity decided to meet with her; perhaps she could shoulder the burden that would come with ruling a planet.

Hathor was many things, Priestess, Scholar, Warrior, and Mother; she was a woman who understood herself, her strengths, her aspirations and her dreams in this world, and she believed in the rules the gods had created for this world. When the young woman was approached by the former goddess, she instinctively knew she was talking to someone far above her, and indeed above anyone she had ever met face to face, she was faced with a woman who the Pharaoh himself would prostrate before, and this woman came to her and talked to her face to face, however, she knew that her place was not with that woman, she could not go to the stars, and she could not imagine or comprehend the weight of the undertaking she was being offered, which further assured her that she would not be suitable.

"I beg your forgiveness my lady," she said, "however, I don't believe I can fulfill what you ask of me. I am but a humble tool of the gods, and my daughter needs me with her, I cannot leave her and go with you."

Serenity looked directly at the eyes of the priestess and looked further into her mind, and attempted with the link she had with the castle to see if this was indeed the correct candidate, and if so, she would find a way to convince her to come with – the promise of an extended lifespan for her and her child would most probably convince her; the planet, however, had other plans, for it rejected Hathor, she would not be the one to have dominion over it.

Having found no candidate as suitable as Hathor was for the position in Km.t, Selene decided to look for 'her' somewhere else, the land she chose this time was the land of the Celts, and there she met Cliodhna, who was the fairest of the women on the isles, and yet again she found that her candidate did not meet the standards of Venus.

Serenity's travels took her far and wide, from the lands of the Aztecs, to the many beauties of China, and she even met Ishtar, who was fierce warrior, whose ferocity was only matched by her beauty; but she found none who would satisfy the requirements of Venus.

When she had finally decided she would be giving up while on the island of Cypress, Selene met a small dirty thief by the name of Aphrodite. A young blond girl, of no more than ten, Aphrodite was orphaned when her father went to war and her mother was raped and killed when she was only eight by an envious neighbor, and from that day on, the girl lived on the street, stealing and scourging to live, and only remembering the faintest idea of what a mother's love truly felt like.

Today like any other day for the past two years, Aphrodite was looking for some foreign merchant to steal from, since stealing from the locals might cause her trouble later on when she was trying to buy some food; the one to catch her attention was the woman dressed in white so pure, she thought she had never seen the color before in her life, her dazzling hair, that shined as though made from silver thread, and tied in twin buns on the top of the woman's head was the first thing that caught the girl's attention, followed by her milky skin, and finally her toga, which looked like it was made from pure light. Deciding that this would be her mark for today, Aphrodite began running towards the woman like she always had, the plan was bump into her and knock her to the floor, and while apologizing and helping her up, she would steal her money bag.

Aphrodite's plan however, did not count on the target being a goddess. When Aphrodite knocked into Selene, it was as if she hit a wall; the little girl was pushed back and fell onto the floor with a thud. Turning to see who bumped into her, the goddess noticed the little girl, and she felt for the first time Venus scream 'THIS IS HER! This is the one I have been waiting for.'

Looking at the dirty little girl, she could not find anything she considered beautiful about her, but if the planet thought that this was the one, who was she to argue, she was about to give up anyway.

"Are you ok little girl?" she asked.

"Yes, fine," answered the girl defensively.

"I would like to meet your parents."

"What do you want with them?" again the girl was very defensive when answering Serenity.

"Nothing important, I just want to ask them a question."

"They died a long time ago, they can't answer you."

No parents! To Selene this was happy news, true, she was sad for the girl and felt sorry for her, but that meant that she did not need to convince any 'concerned parents' that she needed to take their daughter away.

"I am sorry to hear that," said Serenity, "then I guess I will have to ask you. I have come from a faraway place, and I have been looking for someone like you for a very long time, and would like to take you away with me."

To Aphrodite, this seemed like a fairytale: she becomes orphaned, and then all of a sudden a beautiful looking woman comes and wants to take her away, but that was precisely why she did not believe that woman, two years of living on her own were enough to wizen her up to the unfairness of the world. This woman was no long lost relative, nor was she some fantastical being, sent by the gods. 'No' she thought to herself, 'she will not trick me!'

"Who are you supposed to be anyway, and what do you want with me?"

These questions stunned Selene for a few seconds; she had not thought a young child would be inquisitive. After scouring the globe looking for someone to fill the role of the princess of Venus, she was so relieved that thoughts of explaining anything had left her mind completely.

"Excuse my manners young lady," she said "people call me Serenity, I govern a certain community which is facing a problem right now, and it requires a person with your qualities."

"Oh? And how can little old me help?" asked the child skeptically.

"It is not a conversation to be spoken outside in the open, come with me," and with that said, Serenity took Aphrodite by the hand and dragged her with her.

"Where are you taking me?!"

The former goddess did not answer, instead she continued walking and dragging the girl with her until they reached their destination.

"You are taking me to a bath house? I thought you wanted to talk in private."

"I do you silly girl, however, you are very dirty, and so you require a bath," and with no further arguments Serenity dragged the protesting young girl into the bath house.

"Look I don't have any money to pay for a bath," said the child once the woman sitting upfront asked for payment, however Serenity said nothing and proceeded to pay the amount due for both herself and the young girl.

"I am the one who wants to talk to you girly, so I will pay for your share, don't worry about it."

"I have a name; call me by it, LADY!"

"Well you never introduced yourself, so how could I have known what your name was?"

"It's Aphrodite," she said, having realized that the older woman was indeed correct.

"That's better, now Aphrodite, undress and leave your clothing in the bin, I will have a new toga prepared for you once you are clean."

Once inside the bath, Aphrodite caught sight of the naked Serenity; if she had thought the woman looked beautiful before, she now realized she had never known beauty before in her life, an opinion she would later find out was shared by all the other occupants of the baths. If perfection had a name, in Aphrodite's opinion, that name would be Serenity; she noticed how the most beautiful of the bath's occupants covered themselves in shame before the embodiment of beauty who entered behind her. Selene on the other hand paid little attention to silly mortals, she only cared about one person in that bath, and it was the young girl she was guiding to the pools in order to clean her.

Serenity's hands were incredibly soft on the young girl's skin as she wiped her body with water and soap, cleaning away two years' worth of dirt and grime, and by the time she was finished, Selene finally understood why this girl was chosen. Forgoing the physical appearance of the girl which, if based on her bone structure, fair skin, and blond hair meant that she would look extremely beautiful once she grew up, a beauty comparable to Hathor's, she could feel that the girl knew well what love was, and after losing it, she knew its value more than any other, making her the perfect guardian and representative of love and beauty.

Done with the bath, Selene took the now willing Aphrodite, who was clad in a toga similar to Serenity's, to her inn, where she ordered food be delivered to her room. Once in the room, and the food had been delivered and placed on a table before the two women, the younger of the two started to talk.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Nothing dangerous Aphrodite, I want you to come with me to my 'community' where you will have tutors, who will teach you how to rule so that one day soon you will sit on a throne and rule castle Magellan."

"What do you mean rule?" asked the girl in surprise.

"Don't worry about it now, it is still times away, now we have to make sure you grow up to become the woman you were always meant to be."

With their discussion ended by Serenity, Aphrodite returned to her food, which tasted better than anything she had ever had her entire life, for in the first time in two years she was eating properly cooked food.

After the food was finished and taken away by the help, Serenity took Aphrodite to her bed and the young girl slept in the arms of the former goddess. Selene, after a few hours noted that the clinging child, though asleep was crying and calling for her mother, feeling maternal, the Moon placed her arms around the girl and hugged her tightly into her chest, assuring the girl that she was safe.

* * *

A/N: So here comes another chapter in a story I only meant to be a one-shot, strange how it happens, huh?

Anyway as always, thank you for ready and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Slices out


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Butterfly

A/N: Though I learned of this late yesterday, however I am going to say it, Wada Kouji, the singer who sung the original Digimon Adventures opening, has passed away due to cancer on the third of April, thus I am writing this chapter in his memory, basing of one of his songs that was with me since childhood.

Wada Kouji has, even after being diagnosed with cancer in his upper pharynx, continued to work and ended up with two new songs that were released prior to his death, his memory will live on through his work and legacy, and I give his family my condolences.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon nor Butterfly (Wada Kouji)

* * *

'There have been times when I have wanted to fly away, just become a butterfly riding on the gentle winds to escape from it all,' she wrote 'but since I met you, something inside me changed, I no longer sought escape, but to reach you.

'After an endless dream, in a world that felt so empty, where all my dreams and hopes felt lost for good, you came to me, and you helped me stand, and now with these awkward and weak wings of mine, I shall fly to you, whenever you may need me, my love.'

"Done!" said Aphrodite, as she looked at her diary, it had been years now since Serenity, who was really the goddess Selene 'I know right?!' picked her up from the most desperate times of her life. The young woman now had become accustomed to life on the moon and the frequent visits to Magellan (which after the first visit, and the terraforming session, was only needed as a symbol, but she visited it anyway, because hey, she had to govern her people – yes she was not used to that yet – from somewhere that represented them), and accompanying Serenity while she was constructing the castles of Mariner and Phobos & Deimos, on Mercury and Mars respectively (Why the goddess insisted to name a single castle Phobos & Deimos she had no idea) and Io of Jupiter was only slightly behind them, and she could not be happier, for the orphaned girl, she had found her home and the place she belonged.

Rumors were starting to reach the princess of Venus that the people of the moon were hoping their leader would declare herself queen, and rule the solar system, and they were not the only ones, the people on Venus, though few, also shared that opinion; the Idea was the Moon Queen directly ruling the capital which people were beginning to call the silver millennium and a princess to rule in the queen's steed on each planet with a castle. The target of those rumors however seemed to be oblivious to them, or, which was the most probable scenario, paid them no heed.

The days that Aphrodite spent with the queen had quickly made her feel the love she had lost as a child, and as she knew the queen would never see her as anything but a daughter, she could not help but hope her feelings would reach. Non the less, the day of completion of the castles of Mars and Mercury were drawing close, and she knew that Serenity would start scouring the earth for candidates for each of these castles; thus Aphrodite decided she would help in the only way she could, return to the earth and find the candidates for the queen to choose from in the future.

Descending into Cypress, the teenaged girl wondered at the people gathering around her, all with awestruck faces.

"My Goddess," one of them, who looked like a priest, said "My you grace us with your name?"

Aphrodite, slightly flustered buy the crowds did the only thing that came to her in that panicked moment and said "Goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite of Venus!"

The masses cheered for their new goddess, and that was when she felt truly troubled, the humans were coming to her asking her for her blessings, and she did not know what to do, so she teleported away from the city, and into another called Cythera.

* * *

The journey of Aphrodite the teenage "goddess" was not an easy one; though viewed as a goddess, she quickly learned why the gods (she only knew two of them but still…) seldom descended upon the earth in all their glory, Selene would only descend if she needed something important, and usually did so in disguise, and the other one, well he was busy most of the time so he had not descended upon the earth in millennia. Humans, Aphrodite decided (she no longer considered herself one since the merging at Magellan castle), were a petty lot, and only a few of them truly deserved the honor of breathing the same air as her beautiful goddess inhabited.

However by the end of her journey, she was able to find three cities where their candidates would absolutely fit the requirements of each of the planets remaining, for Mercury, she found the city of Athens, Mars on the other hand would find its match in Sparta, as for Jupiter, the Amazonian tribes seemed to fit the description of the girl destined to be the princess of Jupiter to a T.

So once castle Mariner was completed, Aphrodite took her beloved to Athens, the city of the first democracy.

* * *

Athens was home to one girl, daughter to influential parents, called Athena, after the city. While she was still young, little Athena was one of the wisest minds in the city, so wise in fact that, philosophers came flocking to her from all corners of the city to discuss ideas and theories with her. Athena was happy when she discussed the different topics of philosophy and science with the great minds of the city, however, and probably due to her age, she did not notice that some of those men, were getting jealous of her, and were planning on bringing her harm. It was at this time that Aphrodite brought Serenity to the city.

The second Selene saw the young girl, her connection to Mercury allowed her to know that this child was the one needed for the planet to flourish. So as she approached with Aphrodite, the younger of the two noticed (probably due to her analytical eye she had since living on the street as a kid) a man behind the child rearing a knife towards the girl.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" she screamed, allowing the whip like chain in her hand to strike the would-be attacker and knock the knife out of his hand. "How dare you attempt to strike one of my kin!" she screamed angrily, she did not know where that came from, but she did believe every word she uttered.

"It is the Goddess Aphrodite!" one of the gathered men said, and without further ado, all who were gathered went down one their knees.

"I did not know she was one of the gods, I swear," screamed the assailant frozen in his place as an angry Aphrodite stalked towards him; the man, who history would not remember, pissed himself and passed out when Aphrodite stood before him face to face.

"Are you unharmed sister?" asked Aphrodite with concern apparent on her face, but none of the gathered dared raise their face, save for the one being addressed, the young girl Athena.

"Y... your… your gr" she was about to say when a gentle hand came and rested on her shoulder, calming her down. "Yes I am unharmed."

"Good, Aphrodite, let us take young Athena, and speak somewhere private, this is not a conversation for mortal minds," said Selene, carrying on with her companion's statement.

Aphrodite and Serenity each took one of Athena's hands and took her with them away from the kneeling masses.

* * *

Once in an isolated area, Aphrodite let go of Athena's hand and let out a sigh of relief. "That was nerve wracking," she said.

Athena on the other hand quickly let go of Selene's hand and knelt on the floor. "I apologize for causing you troubles, oh great goddesses."

"Don't worry about it," said Selene, "and while we are on the subject, I know I used to be a goddess, but Aphrodite, since when were you one?"

Aphrodite for her part hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment, "It was a misunderstanding, it happened when I returned to Cypress and the masses just assumed I was one."

"Only you Aphrodite would cause such a misunderstanding, and now little Athena has become one too," said Selene with a small smile, "well, it would help explaining to her parents why we want to take her, and a good excuse for the rest of the girls."

"So, Aphrodite is not the goddess of love?" asked the little girl.

"No, what she is though, is the guardian of Love and beauty, and princess of Venus, which brings us to you actually."

"What do you need of me, sorry but I don't know your name."

"You can all me Serenity."

"Don't let that fool you though," said Aphrodite "She changed her name, in reality she is Selene, the goddess of the moon!"

"Former Aphrodite, I've told you many times, I am no longer a goddess, not since…"

"While that may be true in a sense, because you lost your divinity, but you still remain the goddess of the moon, your people still believe in you as such."  
Athena for her part was looking in amazement at the two women before her.

"Enough of this Aphrodite," said Serenity "Athena what I want from you, and a few others will be the same thing I require from, the energetic child beside me."

"Hey! I am not a child anymore, I am already sixteen!"

"Ignore her. Anyway, I require that you become the princess of Mercury, the guardian of Wisdom and Intelligence."

"You honor me oh great goddess," said the young girl bowing her head.

"See, this is how a proper person reacts, not scream and shout."

"I said sorry before, I was a messed up kid."

"True, and don't worry about it, I was just pointing out the differences," said the moon "however, that is nether here, nor there, now we should talk to your parents, and maybe afterwards we go see who Aphrodite has chosen as the guardian of Mars."

"Hey! Don't get angry at me because I found the candidate for Mercury so quickly!"

"Aphrodite, you are my pride and joy, you know that, right?"

"Yes," answered Aphrodite with her head held down, "how about you lead us to your parents Athena, let's see how proud they are with their little goddess."

* * *

It turns out, having fathered a goddess, was a great honor for the couple, and they quickly agreed to have Athena taken from them, because after all, the goddesses Selene and Aphrodite were asking, and one did not deny a goddess.

As the two young women were walking Athena away from her house, the girl let go of their hands and ran back to her parents and hugged them tightly, saying goodbye for the last time before becoming something else.

* * *

Sparta, as it turned out, was their destination for finding the guardian of the planet of war, and their target was the gladiatorial rings, for there was the girl Aphrodite believed to be the one who represented war and passion.

Ares was not a name one would give to their daughter, however, being born to slaves who did not know male from female names tended to cause such things to happen; and so we find Ares, the Female gladiator who, while no older than twelve, fought men more than twice her age, and won.

Mars, Selene felt, called out to this girl, already blessing her with powers long before their union had happened. It was obvious to anyone that this girl was the embodiment of all a warrior should be: strong, calm and yet passionate. Selene believed that Aphrodite was indeed right to choose this girl, who was fighting before them as ten young men of sixteen summers tried to wound her and failed, as the best candidate for Mars.

While buying Ares from her owner was difficult at the beginning, a small threat, and a display of Selene's power forced the man to comply; explaining her new duty to the girl herself proved more of a challenge, because, though she was taught everything she needed to know to grow as a warrior, she was taught and understood little else. Never the less, by the end of the day, Serenity returned to the moon with two additional girls with her.

* * *

A'N: Two more senshi or rather guardians join the court of the moon, and the last of the inners is soon to come!

I have been asked about Pluto, and while I have left a small clue in this chapter, I will not be saying much about her until the chapter she is scheduled to appear in.

I hope you all enjoyed this rushed chapter!

Slices out


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Protector

Disclaimer: I don't want to be punished in the name of the moon, it sounds too painful, and so, I won't even claim I own Sailor Moon.

* * *

The Castles orbiting Mercury and Mars were soon populated following the training their new owners received under the tutelage of Serenity and Aphrodite, and after two years they were declared ready to take on their thrones. Athena greeted the challenge with enthusiasm and was eager to begin proving herself, Ares on the other hand was not as excited…

To the young warrior, who was not fourteen, being separated from her savior, Serenity, was not a welcomed event; in fact since the day she was freed from her enslavement through the former goddess' intervention, she had become extremely attached to her rescuer that she had not spent a waking hour away from the older woman. However, thanks to Aphrodite's reassurances that she would be able to return to Serenity's side in no time at all helped quell her fears, and now she just wished the ceremony be over and done with quickly so she can return to her surrogate mother's side.

Sitting on the throne of one of the planetary castles in order to be blessed by that planet's power could sound like a painful experience, getting struck and forced to contain all that power and whatnot, in reality however, it was a freeing experience; the girls chosen for each planet embodied the qualities of planets they were to rule, so the moment they sat on that throne, they felt complete, as if they understood a part of themselves that they vaguely knew before, as if understanding the true meaning of those qualities they had themselves.

With the Ceremony over and done with, and the planets well on their way to becoming habitable, the princess of Venus organized a get together for all four rulers in the moon palace, something which the others thought was normal, and no one argued that it was not her palace. The princess of Mars was eager to see Serenity after she had not met with her 'mother' for a few days, she was in fact so desperate for contact with the moon goddess that when she entered the hall the gathering was taking place in, Ares tackled her to the floor hugging her tightly and burying her face in Serenity's stomach.

Serenity on the other hand was proud of her girls, she considered each and every single one of them a daughter, and was pleased to see that they had risen to the occasion and fulfilled the most difficult duty they had.

* * *

The completion of Io castle happened on the day of the 'coronation' of the two new princesses, and now that the formalities where over and done with, and they enjoyed their little private celebration, it was now time to find the last of the princesses, and according to Aphrodite, the last of their number, the one who would sit on the throne of Jupiter, would be found with the Amazons.

And so with no further ado, the quartette traveled to earth once more, and this time their destination was just outside the lands occupied by the Amazons, a hidden village of sorts.

While traveling to the village, they were stopped by an armed young woman, perhaps eighteen years of age, carrying a shield and spear, and dressed in Amazonian armor.

"None shall enter the lands of the Amazons but its own people," declared the young woman.

A smile came to the lips of Selene, and she turned to catch Aphrodite's eye who in turn also smiled.

"What is your name, young solder?" asked the moon incarnate.

"I am Xena, princess of the Amazons, sister of Hippolyta, daughter of Hera queen of the Amazons," stated the warrior with pride, her lustering black hair flowing around her as she moved, readying herself for a fight.

"Xena, that is a good name; I am Serenity Queen of Lune and the Sol, here to speak to your mother Hera, Queen of the Amazons about a delicate matter."

"You lie, there is no way a queen would travel with only three little girls, unprotected."

"While true that they are three girls, I am far from being unprotected… how about a demonstration, warrior princess, Ares here is always in the mood for battle, what do you say Ares?"

"I will make her eat her words for insulting you, Serenity," said an angry Ares.

"Don't let it bother you much dear," said Selene "is this acceptable to you, Xena, Warrior princess and protector of the Amazons, you can even fight against Ares with all of your troops hiding the trees behind you."

"Don't insult me," said Xena "I will fight that little girl and defeat her alone!"

"Very well," said Selene "If Ares were to defeat you, you are to grant us an audience with your mother, oh, and I advise you to be present during our talks, for you will find them very illuminating."

The two warriors met in the middle of the clearing and readied their arms, looking into each other's eyes and prepared to begin at the starting signal.

"Are you sure you want to be doing this Serenity?" asked Venus.

"Aphrodite dear, you wound me; I want that girl to understand the difference between our power and theirs."

"So, why not have me do the fighting, you know I am stronger than Ares."

"True, but I believe that the shock of being defeated by someone younger would humble the princess a little bit."

"As you like," said Aphrodite, resigning herself, she knew well enough there was no changing the Moons mind once she decided on a certain course of action. "You may begin."

What followed next was the shortest spar in the history of the Amazons, as the princess of Mars knocked her opponent back into a tree with a single hit.

"Well done Ares, perfect as always," declared Selene.

"Thank you, my lady."

"Now Xena, do you understand that I am neither unprotected nor powerless?" she asked the downed princess who was barely catching her breath.

"Yes! I understand Queen Serenity of Lune," said Xena bitterly. The girl's defeat had wounded her pride greatly; however as an Amazon, she had to honor her promise.

"Good, now, let us be on our way, there are many things we need to discuss."

* * *

"Mother!" said Xena as she entered the most impressive looking building in the village, which wasn't saying much seeing that all of the other buildings were made out of wooden logs, bound together by ropes and vines, "I present to you with Queen Serenity of Lune!"

"What nonsense is this? Selene, since when were you a queen?" asked the queen as she stood from her throne.

Selene smiled as she looked at the woman before her "Hera, you look exactly like the last time I saw you, and you have children now, please don't tell me their father was Zeus, that man wonders too often."

"If you must know, no, they are not his, as a matter of fact, they are not my daughters by blood, I adopted them when I formed this tribe."

"I see, that also explains why Io did react to your daughter."

"What do you want Selene? I know you did not come here for a social call, you never were the kind of person."

"You are correct," said Serenity "by the way, I changed my name; my name is Serenity now. Anyway, I would like for you to entrust your daughter, Xena, to me, I plan to make her the guardian of courage and protection, Jupiter would have no other, and I can think of no one better."

"You don't mean to say that you are making her one of the eternals?"

"No, you know as well as I do, that without blood from an eternal, whether divine or otherwise, one cannot become eternal, however, she will become long lived."

"And you are giving her dominion over Jupiter, true she does have the qualities that represent that place, if only that place was not associated with _him_."

"Well, there you have it anyway," said Serenity "Do I have your permission?"

"Of course you have it! You are an old friend, however, it all rests on Xena's decision herself, what do you say daughter?"

"Mother, I don't understand what the two of you were just talking about," said the second princess of the Amazons.

"What she is saying, dear, is that you get to become something far more than you ever dreamed you could become, far greater than any mortal would ever dream of coming," answered Aphrodite before either of the women were able to answer.

"You must be Aphrodite, they call you a Goddess of love," said Hera.

"Why yes, though that whole goddess thing is a bit of a misunderstanding, and now it appears to have stuck, oh well, what can one do?"

"What that girl said daughter is true, and I am guessing that she is the one who embodies Venus?"

"Why yes, I am the princess of Venus, who rules from castle Magellan."

"So, what do you say daughter, are you prepared to go and meet your destiny?"

"Mother!" exclaimed Xena, "I am the protector of the Amazons, my place is with my people."

"Don't worry about the people dear, your destiny is much greater than just guarding the Amazons, you shall protect the world. Oh and don't worry about your sister, I will explain to her what happened when she returns from her raid."

* * *

Though outwardly, Xena fought against going with this Selene woman, on the inside she was dying to go with the group which had a person who was able to defeat her in a single move; if she had been but six years younger, she would have chalked her defeat up to inexperience, however because she was eighteen, and with years of experience fighting wars and challenges from other warriors, she understood that the little girl who wiped the floor with her was far more powerful, and she wanted the secret of that strength.

Serenity told Hera that she would delay their departure in order for her to allow Xena to bid farewell to Hippolyta since the instruction period should take at least two years, of which travel back to earth alone would be extremely difficult, especially to those without the 'blessing', what that blessing was however was not inferred by either, and from what the queen of Lune said, this blessing would stop her from being able to carry out her mission.

After the official audience was completed, Hera led her guests to her private quarters and had the servants prepare the guest quarters for them. Hera spent most of the time talking to her counterpart, in a tongue she understood nothing of, it appeared that both woman enjoyed whatever topic they were talking about, because Xena had never seen her mother smile so brightly nor laugh so loudly, so loudly in fact the guards were peering inside the room trying to find out what was happening.

"I would like to apologize to you, Ares, I insulted you and your queen when I underestimated you, and I did not know that my mother viewed her as an equal, if I did I would not have done what I did, so I have to say that I am truly sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said the princess of Mars, turning her head away.

"Don't let her gruffness bother you, Xena, she is very reserved with strangers; in regards to the fight however, Serenity new full well that our little war goddess here was itching for a fight, however there are none on earth that can equal her strength, but she did not seem to understand that, and thus Serenity wanted to show her how powerful in comparison to normal humans she really is," explained Aphrodite, "I am Aphrodite by the way, it is nice to meet the last of our number."

"And I am Athena; it is a pleasure to meet you Xena, future guardian of Protection and Courage, and the princess of the planet of thunder," stated the youngest girl.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both," said Xena.

"So what do you do around here for fun?" asked the eldest of the trio of the queen's guard.

"Are you allowed to leave your post?"

"Um… I don't know what you misunderstood, but the queen keeps us around because she thinks of us like her daughters, and not because we are her guard; in fact, she could easily destroy an army that would try to do anything to harm her or anyone else that she cared for," said Venus.

"I see. Well to answer your question, other than training and gossiping we don't have much in the way of 'fun' as you put it, so I don't know how to answer your questions."

"Ah… Boring… Serenity," called Aphrodite.

"Yes dear, what is it," answered the former Moon Goddess.

"Can I take the girls outside and explore the region?"

"Would that be fine with you Hera?"

"Of course, but you should take my daughter with you, because she knows the area well," answered Hera.

"Great!" said Aphrodite, as she excitedly pulled Ares and Xena out of the room by their hands with Athena following closely behind.

"You have a lively bunch of girls there Selene," said Hera.

"Well, they do make me feel lively as well," answered Serenity "and how many times do I have to tell you, its Serenity now, I changed my name since I lost my divinity."

"Change it as much as you like, you will always remain Selene to me, one of my oldest friends."

"So will you, Hera, you do know that I missed our talks."

"Yes I know well enough, and I know how brokenhearted you must have felt for you to lose your divinity."

"In all honesty, after what happened with that man, I felt stupid."

"We still have hearts and desires Selene, and with someone as compassionate as you, it was bound to happen if you fell for the wrong sort of guy. Heck, look at the one I love."

"Zeus you mean?"

"Yes! He is the biggest horn-dog I have ever known, but I still love him; you know, I left because I did not want what happened to you to happen to me."

"Well, here is to falling for the wrong men!"

"I'll drink to that Selene."

* * *

Years had passed and Jupiter was no longer merely a gas giant, but now it had platforms surrounding it where people lived and made a living from gathering the different gasses from the planet and used them for trade.

All was well for Serenity, who had finally accepted becoming Queen of Sol and the Moon, and the title was no longer one she used for convenience.

One night, however Serenity was visited by two unexpected guests.

"Selene," the elder of the two said, "We would like you to give domain of our planets and powers to our daughters."

* * *

A/N: Ending on a cliffhanger of sorts!

I would like to give a cookie to those who could guess the following:

Why is Jupiter's hair black?

Who are the two guests that visited Serenity?

Who is Xena?

Looking forward to reading what you thought of this chapter and I will see you in the next one!

Slices out


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Doors that Must Stay Shut

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, but I can, however, write fanfiction about it if I don't get paid for it.

A/N: Though Aino Minako is my favorite Senshi, I agree that she is the one person whose love life should never bear fruit.

* * *

"Chronos, Hades, I was not expecting either of you."

"Selene," said the elder looking of the two "we want you to give our powers to our daughters; you are the only one of us who knows how to do it."

"I heard you the first time Chronos; Hades, you also want the same thing, right?"

"In a way, I do want her to inherit my power, but I also want it sealed; you see, my power to too great, governing death, rebirth and ruin, a child cannot carry such a burden, and I want the power unsealed once you find her responsible enough."

"Why this sudden desire?"

"It appears that the humans who we govern, no longer believe in us and our guidance, so much so they are making up stories that are more fantastical than you can ever imagine," said Hades "we no longer desire to remain the guardians, however our roles must have people fulfilling them, especially Chronos, who has to always have to have an eye on the time dimension."

"I see, Hera did mention fluctuations, however, she did not say it was anything like this."

"Well yes, sadly enough," said Chronos.

"Very well, I am going to need an item from each one of you that represents your power over your planets and dimensions."

"Very well, we shall prepare them, and while we are at it we shall tell Poseidon and Caelus of what you need for this process."

"Hades, are you telling me those two also want to part with their powers?!"

"Yes, as we said, it is happening to all of us."

"Very well, this is a better result for your daughter Hades."

"What do you mean?"

"In order to seal her powers, I will require three artifacts that hide it from the world, and only once the three are united and used to unlock her powers will your daughter gain access to them."

"Our daughters after we give them our powers, what will happen to them?" asked Chronos.

"They won't attain godhood if that is what you mean, no they will simply become similar to what I am, however unlike me they could die if someone attempted to kill them, but rather than being reborn with a new leaf, they will retain their memories, well since Hades' daughter will have her powers sealed, she will regain them once her powers are awoken once more."

"Very well Selene, we cannot ask any more of you."

"You are entrusting me with your daughters, worrying about them is part of your job description," she said with a soft smile gracing her lips.

"And what about you Selene, when will you have a child?"

"The princesses are all my children now; I don't need to have a child," said Serenity "once upon a time, it could have happened, but I don't think a child is part of my future anymore."

"None the less, we wish you all the best, Goddess of the moon," said both men.

"Thank you, but I am no longer a Goddess, and my name is Ser-"

"We know," said Chronos "however, even though you lost your divinity, you will always remain the Goddess Selene."

Serenity smiled at the two retreating figures and in her heart of hearts wished them luck.

* * *

"Allow me to introduce my daughter, Sretya, who will inherit my powers and duties," started Chronos presenting the green haired young girl in front of him.

"Allow me to present Macaria, my daughter who is set to inherit my domain," said Hades.

"I would like to introduce Guinevere, the one who I found most suitable to inherit my dominion and seat," said Poseidon.

"And finally, may I present Artura, whose qualities mark her as the perfect candidate to inherit my powers and dominion," said Caelus.

"We are honored to be in your presence great goddess Selene, queen of Lune and Sol," said the four young girls gathered as one as they each got down to their knees

"Poseidon, Caelus, you did not tell me you were giving your powers to mortals," said Serenity.

"Will that be a problem?" asked Poseidon.

"No, it is merely a surprise, Guinevere and Artura will not become immortals, they will only become similar to my princesses, long lived; however with the additional powers they gain from inheriting your powers."

"Very well, we ask of nothing more of you Selene."

"How many times to I have to remind you that it's Serenity now?" said the queen with a resigned sigh "whatever! Well, now each pair must hold the artifact that represents your domain, and Gods, start channeling your powers into them."

As the gods and heirs followed Serenity's directions, she continued watching them and making sure nothing went awry with any of them. Once the artifacts were fully charged, the second step of the process began.

"Now the next step is for the girls alone, Gods, your role is now finished," she stated "Girls, you task is simple, you must each spend one day in meditation while holding your artefact and never separating from it, alone. I have prepared meditation chambers here in the palace for you to carry out this task."

The meditation chambers in the moon palace were in reality the rooms these girls would occupy once they take their places in the court of Sol; however she had them first prepared as meditation chambers for the use of the four perspective princesses in their ascension.

While the process was different from how the guardians of the inner planets gained their powers, in the end all eight of the women would be essentially the same, and she hoped both groups would be able to get along well, for to her each and every one of those girls will be a daughter to her.

* * *

The construction of the last four castles was completed much faster than those of the first four, mainly due to the fact that their princesses were already chosen and they had dominion over their respective planets. Following the celebrations that took place after the crowing, and with the gods preparing for their final departure, Serenity took the princess of Pluto aside.

"Sretya, once your father departs, you will have to take his place as the guardian of the gates of time," said Serenity.

"I understand Queen Serenity," answered the girl.

"No my dear, you don't understand. A cruel fate awaits you once you take your father's place; you see, as you are not a goddess, you will not be able to leave the time dimension as your father could, you must never stop time and finally you must never travel through time, otherwise it will mean your death. No matter what happens in the outside world, you cannot leave your post. I am sorry my child, your fate will be a cruel and lonely one."

"Don't worry my queen, my friends will visit me."

"You don't understand child, once you enter through the gates of time you will be essentially outside of the flow of time itself, no one, except for me, would be able to visit you there."

The princess hesitated for a bit, and hurt appeared on her face, however she schooled her features and looked back at Serenity in the eye, "I will carry out the duty my father gave me, my queen. Thank you for your faith in me."

* * *

A few days after the ascension ceremony, Princess Pluto received her duty from her father, and departed to the time dimension through the gates of time, bidding farewell to her sisters.

Serenity sat in a chair on the balcony drinking and looking sadly in the direction of Pluto, thinking of its missing princess. While lost in her thoughts, she felt someone materialize behind her.

"I am sorry for forcing you to do this Selene," said Chronos.

"Couldn't you have told her that those taboos were not permanent, that once she had once died by using one or more of these taboos for the sake of others she would be as free as you are?"

"You know as well as I that it is not possible; in order for that to work she has to do those taboos by her own will prepared for death, and not believing in having any chance of resurrecting will she be truly freed from those taboos; though it is cruel of me to hope this however, I wish that a crisis that would require her powers would happen sooner than later."

"Time is a truly cruel thing, Chronos, I only wish she will not be damaged for life because of this."

"You and me both Selene, you and me both," he said then he turned away from the Queen "it is now time for me to depart, please take care of my daughter and her friends, and make sure they are as happy as their circumstances allow them to be."

"You have my word, Chronos, my old friend," she told the retreating figure.

* * *

As the centuries passes and the planets' population grew, so did the Princesses, while they remained the leaders of their respective planets, they also decided to become the guardians of the queen, protecting her from harm, for harm did come, sometimes from within the solar system, and others from without. The four inner princesses were dedicated to fighting the enemies from within their ranks, the outer princesses on the other hand handled threats coming from without. While peace reigned supreme though few scuffles would happen between planets but quickly resolved, nothing lasts forever.

A little over a millennium after the formation of the Silver Millennium, Aphrodite the Princess of Venus and guardian of Love and Beauty passed away with the tears of her people, and the one to take over her duties was her daughter Antheia, who was welcomed by her comrades who grieved for the death of their leader and her mother.

Serenity however was not seen following the funeral of the first of the princesses for many days, she had spent her time locked up in her room crying over the loss of her first daughter. However Serenity's heartache would not end any time soon, for in the ears following Aphrodite's death, the rest of the princesses save Pluto and Saturn had also left the mortal plane.

The cycle of loss repeated itself, with each generation of princesses becoming as close to daughters to the Queen only to lose them once more, it was devastating, and little by little, she found herself wanting to run away from all the troubles of the world, however she knew she could not leave the world and the Silver Millennium to anyone, there had to be a moon queen to insure the princesses remained united and the external treats were dealt with. For now she had to endure, her talks with the distant guardian of time and the melancholic guardian of death were the only things that kept her going these days, and she hoped that one day soon she would be able to feel as happy as she did when she first took this infernal throne.

* * *

"My queen, are you sure this is the correct course of action?" asked Pluto.

"Yes, I cannot give the throne to anyone, and I have to give the throne to someone I know full well would be able to inherit my power as well as be able to use the silver crystal."

"Have you told your decision to your advisors? Or even the other princesses?"

"No, they must not know. This new generation of guardians is still young, the eldest no older than ten, I will not burden them with my troubles and decisions."

"As you wish, my queen," The princess said sadly.

"Don't worry my dear, once my daughter is born and she is old enough I will take her to meet you."

* * *

A/N: A short chapter with a slightly sad ending. I do apologize.

Slices out


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Taboos

Disclaimer: By now I don't think I need to repeat myself, do I?

* * *

Several thousand years ago, Private meeting chambers of Queen Serenity, Moon Castle

"My queen, please allow me this one request," said Saturn.

"I understand where you are coming from, dear, but someone has to watch over the realm of the dead."

"But I cannot do it my queen, all my friends are either dead or cannot be contacted, I cannot go on like this, I die inside every time one of my compatriots enter the cycle, and yet I alone have to survive, please allow me some rest, please let me forget my pain, even if for a little while."

"Do you know what you are asking of me, princess of Saturn? Do you understand what it would mean to you, and what it would mean to me?"

"I know we are all like daughters to you, and I know all too well how devastated you feel each time one of us passes away; but I am not strong like you, and you know that if you do this for me I will remain asleep until you require me."

"I will have to kill you! Don't you understand? The only way for your power to be sealed is for you to be reborn, and the only way to achieve that is through death! Are you going to force a mother to kill her daughter?! I don't want to do that; I cannot see my daughter die before my eyes."

"My queen, you have been a mother to us all, none of my sisters wanted to leave you, however, they could not last forever, and I have lost too many sisters without being able to move on myself, please mother, don't let me endure anymore partings."

The queen looked at the last of her original princesses (save Pluto) with a resigned look in her eyes, she understood perfectly what the younger woman was saying however she did not want to part with her, and Macaria was the last of the princesses who remembered that Sretya ever existed. Serenity knew how hurt the guardian of time will be, perhaps more than herself, and she knew that the only way to spare her the hurt was to make her forget all about her last sister.

"Very well Macaria, however I shall also do the following, I will erase the memory of your existence and duty from the memories of all the current princesses, they will only remember that the goddess of ruin will be called through the three talismans of the outer guardians, that way, you will not be called upon except by my authority or in the event that the Silver Millennium has ended."

"Thank you Queen Serenity, I truly appreciate what you are doing for me and how difficult it must be for you."

* * *

There was no funeral for the princess of Saturn as all memory of her existence was wiped from the minds of the other planetary princesses, however, the queen implanted a failsafe, if Saturn is called while all princesses were gathered, then the true memories of the guardian of death and rebirth will be unlocked from their minds. From that day on, the queen never smiled like she used to.

And with the disappearance of the princess of Saturn, the planet itself became under the jurisdiction of the queen, and all of the population of the planet was redistributed between the other planets; and with that, Saturn truly became the planet of silence.

And for the final time since the foundation of the Lunar Kingdom, Queen shed tears for a daughter.

Saturn was not to be reincarnated for several years, mainly due to the fact that the girl herself did not wish to return, and also due to her dying at the hands of a higher being. Serenity knew with every passing day that she was no longer able to hold on to the feelings she had for this world; all of the gods and goddesses had departed the realm of the living, and she knew that she could not handle one day losing the guardian of time herself, so she decided that she would leave this universe as her kin had done before her.

Being queen of Sol, Serenity knew well she could not just up and leave; the vacuum of power she would leave would cause all her work and the sacrifices of her daughters for naught, and that was a thought she could not accept, so someone must be made to take her place, but she could not entrust such a responsibility to just anyone, not any of the princesses or a great imbalance will occur, and definitely not the humans, who were as greedy as they were many; but where could she find the person she could entrust the legacy she created with her daughters to?

It was that question that gave Serenity an idea; she would give the power to her heir, her own full-blooded daughter. However having a daughter usually meant having a male partner to impregnate the female, let aside her hatred and mistrust to males in general, the presence of a genetic factor that was not divine or divine in origin in her daughter could cause many unexpected results, and she might not be powerful enough to carry out the duty she would be destined to carry; no, even a divine father could not guarantee her daughter's powers to be compatible with the moon and not something else; and in any case, all of the divine and former divine beings save herself had departed, so she could knock on that door anyway. It was in such situations that Selene missed the first princess of mercury the most, Athena was the most intelligent of all her daughters.

Inspiration however came to her in the form of a children's experiment that she witnessed the teachers in a school demonstrate to the students; in it, ink was dissolved in water and then covered with a membrane which was designed not to allow water to go through, and on top of the membrane, water was added, rather than the water migrating downwards, the ink in the water under the membrane traveled to the water above making it impure. However, what attracted the queen to this experiment was the way the ink formed at the beginning of the process of migration, it looked like a fetus. It was then that Serenity decided to inform Pluto of her decision,

* * *

"She knows what she is doing," Pluto argued with herself; she had been doing that more and more often in recent times, mostly due to the loneliness, she needed to hear something other than that suffocating silence and her voice; was the only regular thing she could count on.

"It is a desperate attempt and you know it."

"Have you ever known her to fail anything she set out to do?"

"No, but now could be the first."

"What do you know?"

"I know what you know, I am you!"

"So then you should know better than to bet against queen Serenity, well see who of us will be eating her words soon enough."

* * *

Queen Serenity held in her hand the item of infinite power which would be the central artefact to her success in her endeavor, the imperium silver crystal. Serenity was of course alone in a hidden room in Moon Castle, which was only accessible through a hidden passage in her room, with the silver crystal being the key to opening it. She knew that this process required all of her concentration and thus she could not waste any of it on any distractions, nor would she have to worry about someone discovering her.

The Silver Crystal shined brighter and brighter as the queen concentrated more and more power through it; the goal at this point in time was to gather the required amount through her own power as well as that of the Crystal, once done, the next part of the process could begin. The former goddess understood well enough that no child born of her through any normal methods could be able to utilize the Silver Crystal, and as such she needed to allow its power to bind with hers and the child she would have; the method that she came up with was this one: infusion!

The child to be born must have the power of the Crystal as part of its own blood, and if possible, its soul. The infusion which was to be performed once this first step was completed while the child was being conceived would allow that to happen. Once the maximum amount of power was gathered, and became stable, Serenity shaped them into a crystalline shard, and then allowed herself a few moments rest in order to catch her breath.

Next Serenity started the next phase of the process; the queen cut her hand and allowed a few drops of blood to gather in a small bowl, and with the blood she placed the gathered energy. Satisfied that the energy was still stable, she began to focus her concentration on shaping the blood, while siphoning parts of the crystalized energy and imbuing it into the blood that was being restructured, which caused parts of the DNA of that blood to change as pairs broke off and reformed in different patterns.

Once the energy crystal was entirely consumed, there was no blood left and the bowl now appeared empty, however in it were the seeds of life of a young eternal girl who would one day succeed her mother. Serenity quickly transferred the cells of her future daughter into her womb, and only once she was certain that the cells of the embryo were attached completely to the walls of her womb, and no rejection had taken place did Serenity finally allow herself a smile.

"All that I am, I give unto you my unborn child," she started, with her hand lying gently on her stomach, "my the moon always shine upon you, and may you never be lonely; may you rule with compassion and yet with strength, and touch the hearts of others just like they will touch yours; may the life that you lead bring you nothing but good fortune, and may all you meetings never have anything but happy farewells, and me your heart love true and wise, unlike your mother who did not understand what love was back then, and may any hardships that you face bring you nothing but wisdom for the future; and may troubles never find you, but if they do, know that there is nothing that you cannot learn and grow from. My child, you are not mine, you are but the daughter of life, and while I may waste my breath telling you what I want, you will undoubtedly find your own path to a future of your own choosing."

* * *

"To all my gathered subjects," started the queen as she spoke to the gathered masses below, from the balcony of the palace, "and those of you who were unable to attend due to one reason or another, I wish to share with you this joyous news, I am with child."

The queen remained silent for a few seconds, and let the news sink in, for when it did, the cheers of celebration from the people below became deafening. Serenity waited for citizens of her kingdom to quiet down once more before continuing, "My daughter will be born in a few months' time and will be crowned as the princess of the moon, and heiress to my throne and legacy, and one day when she is old enough, and has proven herself wise and capable, she will take the crown."

Those gathered started to worry for their queen and it appeared that they thought her life was at risk or would end soon. Noticing this, Serenity started speaking again.

"Worry not my loyal subjects, I am not ill, nor am I in danger, nor peril; I have been feeling for a while now that the time was coming for someone else to take over and rule in my steed, for you see, no queen rules forever, otherwise the ruler becomes arrogant and self-absorbed, and once that happens she become arrogant, and too assured of their decisions, and end up causing more harm than good. So when the time comes I wish that you all guide my daughter to become the queen that you truly deserve."

Cheers once again erupted from the gathered masses, and the queen raised her hand in thank you and farewell and once again entered Moon castle.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy my queen," said the head of her bodyguards, who also happened to be the princess of Venus, "May we know who the father is?"

Serenity for her part was lightly shocked from the question, but she was able to regain her senses fairly quickly, "I apologize Princess Venus, however, in order for my daughter's future to be the best I can give her, I don't want her sire's background to be known and used against her; suffice it to say that it was someone I trust completely."

* * *

A/N: And with this the queen is pregnant!

Ok I hid 3 quotes indirectly in this chapter, a virtual cookie to anyone how can find all three and guess where they are from.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you (not literally, but you get my meaning) next time.

Slices out


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 8: The Moon Princess

Disclaimer: If I did ever at one point own Sailor Moon, Mamoru/Endymion/Tuxedo Mask would have been killed and never returned to life, so no, I don't own Sailor Moon.

* * *

As the queen's due date came closer and closer, the excitement about the princess was growing more and more, that the only topic being talked about in any public space was in one way or another, about the future princess; the people talked about many things, such as how she would look like? What her name would be? Would she be as gentle as her mother? However very few discussed the proverbial elephant in the room, the princess' father. While it was not unheard of that an heir to one of the planets be born to a single mother, such as the case of Aphrodite the first, who only lay with a man in order to get pregnant and have an heir to her duty, it was still the first child of the moon queen who reigned over the system for millennia, it was going to be the object of speculation of the masses, even long after she would be born.

During her months of pregnancy, Serenity was contacted by a planet that was founded long ago by a contemporary of hers, Bastet, the cat goddess. Apparently, the deity of welfare believed that sentient cats were the ideal subjects to worship her. The planet Mau, which the two young kittens where brought to Serenity from, had received the news of the goddess of the moon's pregnancy, which in turn caused the elder priests to remember an old prophecy that two kittens must be sent to the moon when its guardian becomes pregnant, and both kittens must have an association with the moon; as it happened, two such kittens were named earlier in the year, one a white cat named Artemis, and the other a Black cat named Luna.

The two kittens who arrived from the planet Mau knew how to speak, however, they were still children, they needed instruction in order for them to grow, and Serenity found she had just the job for them, becoming her "advisors", and then one day help guide her daughter as her own advisors.

Life was becoming more and more hectic for Serenity as she neared her due date; while everyone, from the princesses to the maids, wanted to lend a hand, she often found their help rather unwelcome; as an eternal, her body was much stronger than even the long lived humans of the Silver Millennium, meaning that her pregnancy did little to affect her physically, other than the growing bump in her stomach, so she was annoyed when people held her hand when she walked a few steps or offered to help her lie down, so much so, that her patience was running thin; chemically however, the hormonal imbalances that the queen faced were similar to any human woman, and in her honest opinion, she wished she did not share that specific side effect with them, crying one moment then laughing the next was not a fun experience despite what anyone might say; the whole ordeal had made the former goddess glad that she was only going to have the one child.

* * *

Serenity, who was very pregnant, was standing on her balcony admiring the stars when she heard the neigh of a horse; looking in the direction of the sound, she found a white Pegasus coming towards her, when it arrived and came to a halt at her balcony next to her, it turned into a humanoid, with white hair and golden eyes, who was kneeling down on one leg.

"Queen Serenity, ruler of the moon, and all that revolves around our star Sol, my name is Helios, a former high priest of Gaia, and currently the protector of Elysium, I have come on behalf of the people of the earth to congratulate you on your pregnancy, and wish you a healthy delivery."

"Well met Helios," answered Serenity with a slight edge "what news do you have for me from the former seat of Gaia; last time I saw her, she told me she was planning on turning the governance of the planet to an earthling, and that she had found a way to do it."

"Yes, your majesty, she did indeed succeed in creating a device which gives its holder the power over the earth, however, using it would cost the user their life," answered the shape shifter.

"Oh, so she did not tie this device to a person. So tell me, will I be meeting the girl who bares this destiny?"

"I am sorry Queen Serenity, there is not girl."

"What do you mean there is no girl?"

"The golden crystal of the earth, it is tied to the male members of the Endymion bloodline. Currently I am its keeper, and its use is forbidden except in cases of extreme emergency."

"That bludgeoning idiot!" said Serenity getting miffed, "I told her time and time again, that these powers cannot be handled by men, and add to that she give her crystal… pardon me Helios, it seems my emotions got the better of me."

"No worries my lady," he said bowing down.

"So, is that all you wished to inform me?"

"Well, I also have a message from the king of the Earth and Elysium, which I would like to present to you and await your reply."

"Very well, proceed."

Once instructed, Helios retrieved an envelope from his inner vest pocket and handed it to the queen. Breaking the wax seal, Serenity removed the paper from the envelope and proceeded to read it. The Queen stared blackly at the letter for several minutes after reading it, trying to find which was more ridiculous, the fact that the king of the earth considered them friends, or the fact that he wished to cement their friendship with a marriage between his son, Endymion (the name made her cringe), and her soon to be born daughter.

"Helios, do you know the content of this letter?"

"I was told it was for your eyes only, and did not wish to betray the trust the king put in me," he said proudly.

Her hormones acting up, with the addition to the contents of the letter, Serenity was growing angry, "Helios dear," she said with a smile so sweet, it could be nothing but fake, "tell your king the following:

"One, the people of the Silver Millennium have rules that forbid them form intermarrying with the humans of earth, because your people are too short-lived that such an affair would only end in heartbreak.

"Two, I don't remember every having any contact with your king, or any before him, save your first king, and that was long before he was crowned king, so there is no friendship neither between us as people nor our territories."

By this point the queen's voices was becoming scarier and scarier to the point of almost being terrifying, so Helios could only nod.

"And finally dear Helios, Tell that pompous king of yours that, my daughter is not a bargaining chip, neither for politics nor territorial gain, and will not I agree to marry her off to anyone, least of all a Terran called Endymion! Do you understand, Pegasus?"

"Yes! I understand perfectly queen Serenity," said Helios getting tense, feeling as if the queen might just snap and strangle him, which he did not know, was a very probable scenario considering the angry hormonal queen.

"So? What are you waiting for? Go deliver my message, and make sure to tell him that if I ever see any of his people approach the moon, his kingdom's fate will be sealed!"

Needing no further encouragement, the former priest turned back into his Pegasus form and flew away as fast as his wings allowed him to.

* * *

"Can you believe the nerve of him? Asking for my beloved daughter's hand in marriage for his son to 'cement' the friendship between our kingdoms! What ever gave him the impression that there was any sort of friendship there?"

"My queen, did you ever contact the earth since the formation of the Silver Millennium?" asked the guardian of time.

Serenity was currently in the time dimension talking to her last living daughter, she needed to let off some steam, and she couldn't exactly talk about this to people who knew little of her, thus, she turned, like always, to the only living soul who knew here before becoming a queen.

"No, after the girls had been chosen, I never had the need to; the princesses, however, they did take some trips to the earth after the ceremonies in order to meet with family and old friends. But I was not aware of any form of contact. Also, before today, I was not aware of anyone on earth being able to leave it without help from me and others like me, and since I am the last of my kind, there was no reason to. True there is a transference device which some of my spies use to keep an eye on things; however, there hasn't been any contact."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," sighed Pluto, "All I know is that when Gaia blessed the current ruling family, she informed them of the powerful queen of the moon kingdom, Serenity."

"Of course it's Gaia, who else causes me headaches but her!" said the queen, then sighed. "And let me guess, that priest boy the one who can transform into a Pegasus was the one who saw the coming birth of my daughter."

"Yes, except he can't turn into a Pegasus," said the eldest of the guardians meekly.

"I saw him turn into one with my own eyes, what do you mean he can't?"

"Well, he can't, you see, he is a Pegasus that can turn into a human."

"That's just perfect! They have an immortal priest," and she sighed once again "at least since forming relationships with the terrans are forbidden, and I am about to forbid travel to earth unless with my explicit approval, this will be the last I hear of that entire house."

* * *

On the day in the midst of the astrological month of Cancer, Queen Serenity gave birth; the child was a healthy girl with silver hair, porcelain skin, blue eyes, and adorned on her forehead like her mother, an upwards crescent moon.

While the people outside the palace rejoiced, and celebrated the birth of the moon princess, inside, the queen had gathered the inner princesses; the girls were dresses in their formal attire, and were waiting outside the baby's room, once they were given permission, they joined the queen inside.

**"I have been waiting for you all," she said "Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, the four guardians of princess Serenity."

"Queen, we have been eagerly waiting for this! We will protect her with our lives," said Venus "she is the most precious to us, and will become queen someday."

"She will soon grow and catch up to you all, it'll be fun to see what kind of princess she grows up to be."

"Here is a present," came the voice from different daughters from nobility who were waiting outside.

"I also have a present for you," came an older voice much to the shock of the guardians "for the biggest celebration of the moon I was uninvited."

"Polluter of this holy place," said Venus "who are you?"

"I, too, live on the moon, you know," said the dark haired woman, giggling "but I live deep within its depths."

"Liar!" screamed Venus "You don't live on the moon."

"That's right!" said Mercury.

"You came here without anyone's knowledge," said Mars "You are just here to spread your wicked darkness all throughout this place, aren't you?"

"Uninvited guest," said the queen, standing in front of the princesses "If you are looking for peace and want to live on this planet, we welcome you however, I cannot allow you to bring hatred or darkness to this world!"

"That's funny," answered the strange woman "Since you too came here after wondering the Galaxy, aren't we both immigrants here? Queen, darkness is necessary. If you will simply take my hand, and accept the darkness…"

"Stranger!" shouted Jupiter, attacking the black haired woman "Leave here at once!"

While the attack did miss, the dark woman began retreating, "Where there is light, there is also darkness, the darkness and the light call to each other!"

However the Queen of the moon did not allow the woman to go unscathed, and she attacked the person who had endangered her daughter, she used her royal scepter which held the silver crystal to attack and seal the woman.

"You will be forever banished to the world of darkness!" said the queen "I will seal you away!"

As the dark woman was being sealed, she retaliated with one last curse, "I'll give you a congratulatory present!" she said, "I shall place you under my beautiful curse! This kingdom will fall to ruins, and your beautiful princess will die before she ever takes the throne! That is my present to you!"**

Serenity was finally able to let go of the power she was channeling through her scepter, for the Woman was successfully sealed away, however, her last words worried the queen quite deeply, such a curse, if real, and she knew it was, was certain to occur, which worried her about the future of her daughter and the kingdom; she decided however, not to inform the guardians that the curse was true, for it was now out of their hands. 'Soon' Serenity though, 'I'll work on a solution for this situation, however not today, today we celebrate my daughter, Princess Serenity.'

"Girls," she told the princesses who were checking the baby worriedly, trying to find anything wrong, "Don't worry, the princess is safe now, but what happened just now shows you that even the security of the moon castle is not perfect, so in the future you will have to work hard to protect her."

"But your majesty," said Mars "What about the curse? What will we do to break it?"

"The curse did not stick, so don't worry" said the queen "now let us take my daughter and present her to her adoring people, let me present princess Serenity to the world."

* * *

A/N: so yeah the part between ** is taken from the Sailor Moon manga, Act 48 dream 10.

So the birth of Serenity has occurred and my story is approaching its end, or at least the parts that I have planned. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and R&R.

Slices out


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Fare Thee Well

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, because if I did, I would not accept the opening of season three of Crystal to be that song… just saying!

* * *

Queen Serenity was the leader of the Silver Millennium, the Moon Kingdom, and the Sol system, her word was final, and no one ever ignored what she said, well no one that is except princess Serenity, her own daughter; the girl, lovely as she was, was very hyper and curious about everything, but did not like to study, and always found ways to escape her tutors, even poor Mercury was having troubles with her; so when the queen tried to intervene, she hoped to have some measure of success, and she did at first, but the princess, like always, got bored with what she was taught and escaped from her lessons once again!

Things were peaceful in the Moon Kingdom, and the Queen hoped they remained the same until her daughter could take over, well once she was able to break the curse on her. The Princess and her guardians remained oblivious to the impending curse hanging over their destinies. The queen had been attempting to break the curse, however, she was still unable to; the curse was rooted in the princess becoming queen of this queendom, how exactly she was still unsure.

Queen Serenity had put years studying and attempting to break the curse, and even with her power coupled with that of the silver crystal, she was unable to do anything, she now dreaded the day her daughter would be ready to take over the nation, because it would signify that the end was neigh; due to the nature of the curse, the queen chose not to focus much on the princess' preparation, hoping to delay the curse as long as possible, she had her tutors focus on art and history, and in hindsight, she did not realize that it was the history lessons that would cause the beginning of the end.

* * *

"The Earth is the planet we all come from princess," said the tutor, when the young Serenity asked him about it. "Currently it is forbidden to travel to the earth, but according to our records it was a planet of water and greenery."

It was those words that enticed Serenity for the first time; she knew what plants are, some grew in the greenhouses across the moon, however, vast spaces of grass and trees and flowers was a foreign concept for her, and no matter what, the ten year old girl wanted to see it no matter what.

Asking her mother for permission to go to the earth did not get the princess anywhere, the queen was adamant that no one is to visit the earth, and she had forbidden travel down there long ago and refused any argument to lift the ban. "One day you will become queen, my daughter," she had said "And only then will you be able to open overturn my decisions, but until then, my word is final!"

However, as one would expect the princess, rather than let the issue go, became more obsessed with the little blue planet which the moon orbited. 'How could anyone not be mesmerized by its beauty?' she thought to herself, 'something must be wrong with mother.'

And as the years passed, the princess grew more and more beautiful and her mother's features started to become more apparent in her, in a few years, the only difference would be the color of their eyes, the queen's silver ones and the princess' blue, similar to the color of the planet that younger hoped to visit.

It was on the princess' fifteenth birthday that she first discovered an active teleporter to earth, and mostly by coincidence; it was when she was playing hide and seek with her Guardians that she stumbled upon the room while looking for a place to hide from the great taker that is Jupiter. When the teleporter activated, the princess was taken to a garden filled with flowers, water, and trees, it was the most breathtaking sight the young princess had ever seen. Exploring the garden, the princess looked around, taking in the different colors and smells around her; euphoria had filled the young eternal, she danced around twirling and feeling the gentle warmth of the sunlight and cool wind on her skin, until she tripped on a tree root that was slightly above the ground.

"Ouch!" she screamed in pain as she fell down.

"Is anyone there?" asked a voice from further ahead between the trees.

Serenity looked up and saw a young man approaching; the man dressed in armor with a long flowing black cape, had the most dazzling blue eyes she had ever seen, so blue in fact she feared she could drown in them, and be lost in their depths forever.

"Are you alright?" asked the young man worriedly, "my name is Endymion, I live here, what's your name? Where are you from?"

"I'm Serenity," answered the girl "I'm from far away."

"So you are not from the palace?"

"The palace? What palace?"

"You mean… could it be you are not from Elysion?"

"What's that?"

"It is the capital of the Golden kingdom!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It is fine, don't worry about it, so what are you doing here in the palace gardens?"

"I was looking at the trees and flowers, I've never seen so many in my life! It looks very beautiful and peaceful here."

"I am glad you like it," said the young man with a smile, Serenity felt her heart ache and her stomach started to flutter, it was a feeling she could not describe with words, she wanted to hold this boy, she wanted to know everything about him, she wanted to – whatever she wanted to do however was put on old as her communicator buzzed, signaling a call from her guardians, once she looked at the time, she realized she had been on earth for a few hours now, and she should quickly return home, lest her mother send someone looking for her here.

"Sorry!" she said turning away from the man and running back the way she came from "but I have to go."

"Serenity" she shouted after her "will I ever see you again?"

"Yes!" she shouted back.

And that was the first meeting between the princess and the prince, the meeting which set in motion the end of the silver millennium.

* * *

Serenity the younger had made it a point to visit Endymion at least once a week, however, she made sure to keep her rendezvous secret from her guardians as well as her mother, she did not want the teleporter to be shut down and never be able to visit Endymion again.

Endymion, it appeared, was of like mind, he did not inform anyone of his meetings with Serenity, and would always sneak away in order to meet up with her.

It was three weeks after their first meetings that they first became lovers, though neither had told the other where they were truly from, perhaps feeling that knowing that could change something, they decided to for the moment keep that piece of information to themselves; however it was not long before Endymion was exposed, thanks to the efforts of his knights who were looking for him one day as he snuck away to meet the princess, which caused Serenity to tell him that she was the moon princess and heiress od the Sol system, reassuring him that he has not changed in her eyes, and from that day their relationship only grew stronger.

The absence of the princess did not go unnoticed on the moon; it was as she was sneaking away for a picnic with the prince that her guardians caught her and came with her to earth the first time. On earth, it appeared that the prince himself also faced a similar incident, and both the prince and princess were able to convince their guardians to come with them rather than expose the secret. The queen of the moon had also found out about her daughter's excursions to earth, but decided not to act, because she could not bring herself to destroy the smile that had started adorning her daughter's face recently, so she turned a blind eye to her daughter, and her daughter's guardians.

* * *

As the princess' sixteenth birthday approached, the Moon Kingdom was busy preparing for the princess' coming of age party. The queen wanted everything to be perfect, and had taken it upon herself to choose everything from what flowers to decorate the party, to the wine and cake, her daughter will be the happiest that day, and if no incidents happen, in a few years, the princess will become queen. The curse could be beaten if Serenity the younger ruled as queen, however, she could not rule before becoming an adult in the eyes of the universe and the gods as per the ancient rules, which stated that an adult is considered such when they reached their sixteenth birthday.

Everything was planned down to the last note the orchestra assembled would play in the ballroom, everything perhaps except for the unexpected guest the princess had brought from the earth. To the queen, the young man was an unwelcomed guest, and would always be as such; thus, knowing how their queen felt, the guardians came up with the plan of hiding Endymion and only introducing him to the queen during the party, giving her no way of rejecting the meeting between the two of them.

While Serenity the elder knew of the "surprise" awaiting her, she was more focused on her daughter's party, not wanting to sour her mood with the thoughts of the man with a similar name to her heartbreaker; she had overheard Serenity and her guardians talking about him and discussing ways for her to meet the young man, and it appeared that Serenity was serious about him, however she was still a child and knew nothing of love, surely this was only a crush which would fade in time, and since their relationship is forbidden, it made it all the more exciting in the princess and her guardians' eyes.

Unbeknownst to all of them, Metaria, who was once a dark goddess of chaos, had awoken from her long slumber and was in contact with Prince Endymion's former intended and formed a plan with her to take back the prince and bring the world under their control, and today was the day their planning comes into fruition.

Meanwhile in the moon kingdom, the party had started and in full swing. The prince was brought in secretly and allowed enough time to have a few dances with the princess before the queen called both of them away in order for her to talk to them. When the princess and the prince first arrived at the throne room which was empty save for the queen, they were both apprehensive; however they hoped that through their love for each other they could convince the queen to bless their relationship.

When Endymion entered the Throne room it was the first time the queen had seen the prince of the earth clearly, and quickly she noticed how much he looked like his ancestor, the Endymion who betrayed her.

"Come close both of you," Said Serenity the elder, and the two obeyed "there is a reason that relations with earthlings are forbidden, you know that well Serenity."

"I know the reason as well, oh queen of the moon," said the prince "however, don't you know that I love her, and I want to marry her? And from our marriage, our kingdoms will be one."

"Oh mother, can't you see that I want no other man? I wish, no, I demand that you give us your blessing!"

The queen was looking intently at the prince, she had a few choice words for him, but which she was going to say first she was undecided; but apparently, it was going to be none of those words, for it was at that moment that Queen Metaria and Baryl attacke began.

* * *

The aftermath of the attack was devastating, much of the Moon Castle was destroyed and all of the cities on the moon were wiped out, alone Queen Serenity surveyed the dead who were left in her kingdom, only she and her two cat advisors survived, the cats had their memories altered and sent to earth in hopes for them to one day in the future meet up with her reincarnated daughter and guardians, she even allowed the earth prince to be reincarnated, she hoped that this time, her daughter will grow up happy.

With the death of the guardians and the fact that no heirs were available, the planets of the guardians would die; there was no longer any way for them to sustain life without an active guardian, thus she used a part of her power end entered the population of these planets into a near eternal sleep that would only break once all the guardians were awakened and had returned to their respective castles and activated them, hiding the people away in a place that no one but the guardians could find.

"May moonlight guide you, and may you meet one another, and grow together, my beloved daughters," said the queen looking at the earth.

Next was the gates of time and Pluto, who would remember what she was about to do if Serenity does not amend that.

"Pluto," she said to the guardian as she entered, the last of the guardians was walking around anxiously.

"My queen, you are safe!"

"Yes, however, our kingdom is no more, my daughter."

"You can rebuild, make it into an even greater kingdom than it ever was!"

"I am afraid that is no longer possible, the rest of the guardians are dead, but they will be reincarnated someday, but their planets will be long dead by then, which is why I intervened and kept the people safe for a while yet. And as for the earth, Metaria's attack caused its history to reset; it will be far too long before they are able to reach the planets once more."

"Then what do you require from me my queen, just say the word and I will go back and end the threat that caused this to our kingdom!"

"No Pluto, I have insured that the entirety of Sol will think me dead, but you my dear know that to be wrong, so I will have you remember the same."

"But I don't want you to die, my queen please, allow me to remember that you survived."

"No, I am sorry; I have been planning on leaving Sol in the hands of my daughter and leave it for good; it was too much for me all the deaths of my daughters over the millennia; so please, smile for me one last time on my way out."

Pluto couldn't smile for her queen, she only cried for her mother, the one person who visited her for all these thousands of years, and now would be the last time they spoke.

The queen raised her hand and used her power to alter Pluto's memories, but she sealed her real ones in a way that would allow Pluto to remember her if there was ever a threat that her own daughter could not defend the earth against, a threat that would need her.

And so, Queen Serenity, the Goddess Selene, the Queen of the Moon and Sol, left the system never to return.

Thousands of years later, Island of Japan, a teenage girl was sleeping in her bed, not knowing that today would be the day she was once again put back on the path to her true destiny.

* * *

A/N: And done! I hope you all enjoyed the final chapter!

I truly am blessed by all of your wonderful readers and hope to see you again someday in a new story.

Slices out


	10. Sequel

A/N: I just put up a Sequel to This story called Coming home, if you are interested please don't hesitate to look it up!

Slices out


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